The prior art broadly includes the standard piano keyboard configuration developed centuries ago which has become accepted as a practical compromise to the complex problem of interfacing the human hand to a music making device.
The musician faces some disadvantages but the main advantages of relative simplicity, universal acceptance, standardization and mass-producibility have made it to date the de facto standard.
A key disadvantage is the narrow separation currently existing between the black keys for playing the white keys which may pose serious problems for those musicians having large fingers. It is further noted that because of the major differences between black and white keys be it in size, shape, elevation, positioning or distance, it follows that the human hand must be contorted to access different keys thereby making piano playing technique complex.
There exists three main key playing areas being the full width portion of the white keys, the narrow portion of the white keys between the black keys, and finally the black keys themselves. As a result, each hand digit will relate differently to each one of these areas. For instance, using the thumb or small finger for playing/accessing black keys might require a twisting of the wrist. Since different areas present different playing axis, the fingers must be trained to compensate for different touch due to differences in distance from the key pivot, leverage, relative key mass location, dynamics etc. All of this requires a great deal of arm, hand and finger movement leading to fatigue and pain.
Some prior art known to the applicant is found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,440,071; 4,926,734; 3,342,094 and 4,031,800. U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,071 would appear to propose the closest device to the applicant's proposed structure disclosed hereinafter in that it offers keys of similar size and shape to the traditional piano-style key, yet there are no black keys in between the white keys.